Kansas seeks dismissal of teachers’ union lawsuit

KSAL StaffSeptember 22, 2014

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit by the state’s largest teachers’ union over a new law ending guaranteed tenure in public schools.

Schmidt filed his request Monday in Shawnee County District Court in response to the lawsuit filed in August by the Kansas National Education Association.

The attorney general contends the union has no standing to sue over the tenure law because it is not directly harmed. He also argues the union can’t show that any individual has been harmed since the law took effect in July.

The union declined to comment.

Legislators folded the anti-tenure measure into a larger education funding measure. The KNEA lawsuit alleges the move violated a provision of the Kansas Constitution requiring most bills to contain only one subject.